Chapter 305: Issuing an Invitation

Though the sky was only just beginning to lighten, the camera on Gao Po had night-vision capability, and the image was very clear. After Xia Qing adjusted the camera's angle and focal length with her phone, she discovered that what the red squirrel was gazing at longingly was precisely the terraced fields where she grew sunflowers.

The sunflowers were already in their late growth stage; in a few more days they could be harvested. This little fellow had a good eye.

The red squirrel was perfectly capable of tearing through the insect netting and burrowing into the greenhouse to steal sunflower seeds. But after being disciplined twice by Xia Qing, it had already learned that stealing human food would get its home raided, so it could only watch from outside the terraced fields, not daring to go in.

The sunflowers weren't ready to eat yet, but Xia Qing had a better gift for the red squirrel, to thank it for ramming the evolved crow that was pecking at the rope in the Evolution Forest yesterday.

Xia Qing got dressed and got up, took out two specially saved Chinese torreya nut shells—washed clean of fruit pulp—from the fridge for the little fellow, and then heard her phone alarm. She opened the camera and saw that the red squirrel had come from the Gao Po terraced fields to a rock by the corn shed, where it was captured again by the camera there.

This time the red squirrel was standing farther away, because between it and the corn shed stood an imposing guardian of the territory—the wolf-dog Wolf Lao Er.

While she was resting, Wolf Lao Er was still faithfully guarding the territory. Xia Qing was touched. After placing the nut shells and spring water out for the red squirrel, she went downstairs to cook a nutritious meat porridge for Lao Er.

Sheep Boss? After Lao Er came back, it had quit the job—throughout the night, aside from going out to pee, it hadn't left its tatami. But Sheep Boss was a strength-type evolver without night vision, so making it stand night watch had been like trying to make a duck perch on a shelf. Now that Lao Er was back, it had shed the side job and returned to its proper duties; Xia Qing had no objections at all.

After checking the four cameras and confirming nothing was amiss within the territory, Xia Qing didn't rush out. Instead, she first ladled the medicinal water from the bathtub into a bucket, brought it downstairs, and reheated it with a heating rod. This heating rod was one Xia Qing had specially ordered from Zhong Tao after learning she would need to take medicinal baths; she had tried it last night and the effect was very good.

After heating it to the right temperature, Xia Qing called to her companion, "Boss, come take a bath."

Sheep Boss's cud-chewing mouth stopped, and it turned to look at Xia Qing as if checking whether she had lost her mind.

Didn't we just wash yesterday? Now another bath at dawn?

Xia Qing had long anticipated this reaction. She took half a refrigerated corn cob from the fridge and held it in her hand. Without her even calling, Sheep Boss blinked its big sparkling eyes and trotted right into the bathroom after her.

Wherever Xia Qing's corn cob pointed, Sheep Boss's head followed. "Boss, see this? It's medicinal water. Soaking in it will make you even more powerful. Right now you're the most awesome sheep on the whole Blue Planet, but after soaking in this medicinal water, you'll become the most awesome sheep in the whole galaxy, the whole universe. Stay in for a full hour, and this corn is yours!"

Xia Qing lifted Sheep Boss and put it into the bathtub. At first Sheep Boss squinted its eyes in bliss, but after twenty-five minutes it began to struggle, trying to jump out of the tub. It felt the discomfort ten minutes later than Xia Qing had, probably because Xia Qing had already soaked once, and the water had sat overnight, so the medicinal potency had already weakened.

Sheep Boss was even stronger than Xia Qing; if it got angry, one kick could shatter the bathtub into pieces. Xia Qing immediately broke off a few corn kernels and stuffed them into Sheep Boss's mouth. The gluttonous Sheep Boss stopped struggling, deciding to eat first and deal with it later.

Xia Qing cooed softly, "Tasty, right? I know soaking in there isn't pleasant, but after soaking you'll feel much better. Today my shoulders already feel a lot lighter. Boss, hang in there a little longer, okay?"

"Baa!" After holding on for another five minutes, Sheep Boss called out, its voice somewhat pained. Xia Qing immediately popped three corn kernels into its mouth and kept coaxing, "Boss, you're the pillar of our territory. The territory will still need you to guard it in the future. If you can't take this little bit of hardship, you don't deserve to be the boss—call you Little Three from now on!"

At the forty-minute mark, Sheep Boss really couldn't take it anymore. It wouldn't even eat corn kernels and insisted Xia Qing get it out of the water.

Xia Qing lifted the pain-twitching Sheep Boss out of the bathtub, dried it off, carried it to the tatami, and rubbed its fur, her voice gentle. "Thank you, Boss, for trusting me. Take a nap. Once the pain passes, your muscles will feel very comfortable."

If it didn't trust Xia Qing completely, Sheep Boss would never have stayed so long in medicinal water that caused it pain.

Sheep Boss didn't even have the strength to hold its head up anymore; it lay on the tatami ignoring Xia Qing.

Xia Qing rubbed its head once more, then called to the sick wolf coming out of the fish-raising tool room with a small basket in its mouth. "Lao Er, good work. Come take a bath."

Wolf Lao Er had heard Sheep Boss's struggling screams just now, but it still obediently walked over to Xia Qing's side.

Xia Qing tested the water temperature and earnestly explained to the sick wolf why it needed to bathe. "This is medicinal water. Soaking in it is uncomfortable, but it can cure illness and make your muscles and bones stronger, so you can run faster and jump higher. Lao Er, want to soak for a bit?"

The sick wolf obediently stepped onto the small stool and into the bathtub, soaking quietly. At first it was still panting with its tongue out, but after thirty minutes its mouth closed and its expression grew serious.

No matter how well-behaved and obedient, the sick wolf was still a wild wolf raised in the Evolution Forest. Xia Qing didn't dare touch it when it felt pain, so she cooed softly, "Lao Er, it hurts a bit, doesn't it? Bear with it a little longer. There's medicine in this water that can make your body better. The longer you stay in, the better the effect."

The medicinal potency of this bath was even lower now, so the pain should have lessened too, but Xia Qing still believed the sick wolf wouldn't stay long once it felt pain. Because it was a highly alert beast of prey, and couldn't trust her the way Sheep Boss did.

But to Xia Qing's surprise, the sick wolf actually lasted a full hour. Even though the water in the tub was trembling from its body's shaking, it didn't make a fuss about getting out. After Xia Qing lifted it from the water and dried it off, she gently scratched under its chin, feeling both admiration and heartache for this wolf.

This was an evolved wolf that had walked step by step from deep within the dangerous Evolution Forest to human territory in a state of full-body skin disease, a belly full of parasites, and eyes pierced blind by grass seeds. What had carried it to Territory No. 3 was its powerful will to live and its endurance. It was precisely these qualities that made it, knowing the tub contained medicinal water, endure the soaking even though it was shaking with pain.

To survive—that was the shared will of all living things during the years of catastrophe.

Perhaps sensing Xia Qing's emotions, the sick wolf actually licked her palm with its soft tongue. Xia Qing looked down at the sick wolf's eyes that could barely stay open, and for the first time formally issued an invitation.

"Lao Er, stay here from now on. You're old, your body isn't well, and the Evolution Forest is too dangerous for you. Stay here with me and Sheep Boss to guard the territory. We'll have food, drink, and shelter—let's live on, safe and sound, together."

The sick wolf licked Xia Qing's palm once more, then pressed its fuzzy head against her hand and fell asleep.

With her palm beneath the sick wolf's warm, damp neck, Xia Qing felt for the first time in this evolved wolf a complete surrender, a complete trust.